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Creating Your Masterpiece

This time of year (for football) offers an excellent opportunity to focus on some “Big Picture” items in your program; setting goals and objectives, crafting a mission statement, honing your philosophy.

Like all great masterpieces, this “Big Picture” is actually made up of many small, detailed, intricate, brush strokes. Coach Keith Grabowoski, Offensive Coordinator at Baldwin-Wallace University has written a series of great posts that will take you through this Strategic Planning Process to help you create your own masterpiece:

In addition, to Coach Grabowski’s series, I would like to revisit a concept that I have previously written about: Your Elevator Speech.

An elevator speech is a business term describing a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, profession, product, service, organization, or philosophy. The name elevator speech reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty to ninety seconds.

I believe it is very important as coaches that we have a clear understanding what our philosophy is (overall program, offense, defense) and can articulate it to players, administration, and parents clearly and succinctly – like an elevator speech. If you were in an elevator traveling to the top of the Empire State Building with one of your players or parents, could you communicate your philosophy before you reached the top?

When I think back over the years, it was no coincidence that when I had my best squads, I did the best job of communicating (teaching) our team’s philosophy. When I was a young coach in the 80’s, every coach, player, parent and fan in Osceola, Missouri could tell you what the “Osceola Air Force” was about offensively… and could still to this day!

Spread opponents out formationally

Use motion on nearly every play

Make opponents wary and worried about our passing game

Pound the ball with a strong inside run game

When I was the defensive coordinator at the University of Central Missouri in the 90’s, I know every coach and player could have given an elevator speech about our “Dirty Red” defensive philosophy – and could still to this day!

Stop the Run

Keep things simple so we could use our athletic ability and play fast

Have a degree of multiplicity so we were not predictable

Have fun playing “Dirty Red” Defense!

When everyone in your program knows where you are going, and how you are planning to get there, it makes success possible.

What is your elevator speech? Are you ready to start work on your masterpiece?